Reference is first made to FIG. 1 which illustrates a known communication system 100 in which a user 102 of a household 101 operates a wireless handset 105. The wireless handset is in communication with a base station (BS) 103. The wireless base station is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 106 via a telephone socket 107. This conventional set-up allows user 102 to place a voice call over the PSTN to a telephone 109 associated with a further user 112.
Packet-based communication systems allow the user of a device to communicate across a computer network such as the Internet. These systems are beneficial to the user as they are often of significantly lower cost than fixed line or mobile networks. This may particularly be the case for long-distance communication. These systems utilise voice over internet protocol (“VoIP”) over an existing network (e.g. the Internet) to provide these services, although alternative protocols can also be used
Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which illustrates a communication system 200 comprising a wireless handset 105 in communication with a BS 103, which is able to make VoIP calls across the Internet 108 and can also make conventional telephone calls directly across the PSTN.
The BS 103 is connected to the PSTN 106 via telephone socket 107 to enable conventional telephone calls to be made and received. This enables user 102 to place a voice call over the PSTN via the telephone socket 107 to a telephone 109 associated with a further user 112.
The BS 103 is also connected to a modem 108, which allows the BS 103 to send and receive data from a packet based network such as the Internet 108 via telephone socket 107.
A common broadband connection method is ADSL (Asymmetric digital subscriber line) technology which provides data transmission over conventional telephone lines. When using ADSL, in order to use the data and voice services simultaneously, it is necessary to use a digital subscriber line (DSL) filter (not shown in FIG. 2). This filter is plugged into the telephone socket 107 and divides the single line into two discrete channels to avoid interference between the two services. Enough bandwidth is retained for voice telephony and the majority is used for high speed data. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that other broadband connection methods may be used to connect the BS 103 to the Internet 108, for example cable, satellite, 4G, and optical fibre.
The BS 103 executes dedicated embedded client software to provide the VoIP connections as well as other functions such as registration and authentication. Therefore, by running embedded client software 110a on the BS 103, VoIP calls can be made to other devices connected to the Internet 108 executing the same client software. Thus, user 102 is able to place a VoIP call over the Internet 108 to a mobile device 111 (associated with user 122) executing client software 110b. The mobile device 111 having access to the Internet 108 via a wireless access point 114. The user 102 is also able to place a VoIP call over the Internet 108 to a computer 113 (associated with user 132) executing client software 110c that is connected to the Internet 108. It will be appreciated that client software 110a,110b,110c is provided by the same client software provider.
Base stations running embedded client software are generally more expensive than standard cordless telephones. Currently, to use a less expensive standard cordless telephone in conjunction with known client software or VoIP systems it is necessary to use a separate analogue telephone adaptor (ATA) plugged into both the telephone line and to the cordless base station.
Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which illustrates a known communication system 300 comprising an ATA 115 that is used to connect the base station BS 103 (in communication with the wireless handset 105) to a digital telephone system such as the Internet.
By running client software 110a on the ATA 115, the ATA 115 is able to provide packet based call functionality. That is, user 102 is able to place packet based calls to devices 111,113 over the Internet 108. User 102 is also able to place a call to telephone 109 connected to the PSTN network 106 by routing the call via one or more gateways 116 where they are converted into a form suitable for transmission across the PSTN 106. A user 102 can only send commands to the ATA 115 using predefined calling rules.
Furthermore it will be appreciated that the process of installing the ATA is not a simple one. That is, starting from the conventional set-up shown in FIG. 1 a user must disconnect the BS from the telephone socket 107, connect the ATA 115 to the phone socket 107, connect a power cable into the ATA 115, and connect the ATA 115 to the BS 103. Thus, making the necessary connections between the respective devices, may pose difficulties for some users.